Conventional sand water filter apparatus use a backwash step to periodically clean their filters. This backwash step can require a backwash rate of (10) gallons of water per square foot of surface area for removing the filtered waste. For example a common one (1) square foot sand filter would require a 10 gallon per minute flow rate for 30 minutes, resulting in the use of 300 gallons of water. In addition, some filters require a down rinse step to pack the filter bed with a filter medium, resulting in the use of even more water.